India
Colour, pilgrimage and the Indian Himalaya.
- Capital
- New Delhi
- Currency
- Indian rupee (INR)
- Languages
- Hindi, English and twenty-one other scheduled languages
- Time zone
- UTC+5:30, fifteen minutes behind Nepal
- Dialling code
- +91
- Power
- 230V, type C, D and M sockets
- Main airports
- Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM), Kolkata (CCU), Varanasi (VNS)
About India
Two quite different trips share one border. In the north the Indian Himalaya gives you Ladakh, Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills, with trekking that feels close to Nepal's but with far fewer boots on the trail. Further south the draw is pilgrimage and colour, the Ganges towns, the forts of Rajasthan, and Holi in March, which is worth building a trip around on its own.
The visa, and what it costs
An e-Visa applied for online, approved by email in two to five days, and stamped into your passport on arrival. It is genuinely straightforward and it is also strictly enforced: the e-Visa is tied to a list of approved airports and land crossings, and arriving anywhere else with one does not work.
| Visa | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day e-Tourist, April to June arrival | USD 10 | The low-season rate. It is the cheapest way into India and almost nobody knows it exists. |
| 30-day e-Tourist, July to March arrival | USD 25 | - |
| 1-year e-Tourist, multiple entry | USD 40 | Reduced from USD 80. Maximum 180 days in the year. |
| 5-year e-Tourist, multiple entry | USD 80 | Maximum 180 days a year. Some nationalities now pay considerably more; check your own before assuming. |
| Bank charge | About 2.5 to 3% on top | Added at the payment page and not refundable if the application fails. |
- 30-day e-Tourist, April to June arrival
- Cost
- USD 10
- Notes
- The low-season rate. It is the cheapest way into India and almost nobody knows it exists.
- 30-day e-Tourist, July to March arrival
- Cost
- USD 25
- Notes
- -
- 1-year e-Tourist, multiple entry
- Cost
- USD 40
- Notes
- Reduced from USD 80. Maximum 180 days in the year.
- 5-year e-Tourist, multiple entry
- Cost
- USD 80
- Notes
- Maximum 180 days a year. Some nationalities now pay considerably more; check your own before assuming.
- Bank charge
- Cost
- About 2.5 to 3% on top
- Notes
- Added at the payment page and not refundable if the application fails.
| If you hold | What applies |
|---|---|
| Most Western passports | e-Visa online, at the fees above. Apply at least four days before you fly and up to 120 days ahead. |
| Nepali and Bhutanese nationals | No visa required for entry by land or air, under longstanding bilateral arrangements. |
| Pakistani nationals and people of Pakistani origin | Not eligible for the e-Visa at all. A regular visa from an Indian mission is the only route. |
| Anyone who has held an Indian passport | Renouncing Indian citizenship requires a surrender certificate before a visa is issued. This catches out people of Indian origin every year and it cannot be fixed at the airport. |
| Diplomatic and official passports | Not eligible for the e-Visa. A regular visa from an Indian mission. |
- Most Western passports
- What applies
- e-Visa online, at the fees above. Apply at least four days before you fly and up to 120 days ahead.
- Nepali and Bhutanese nationals
- What applies
- No visa required for entry by land or air, under longstanding bilateral arrangements.
- Pakistani nationals and people of Pakistani origin
- What applies
- Not eligible for the e-Visa at all. A regular visa from an Indian mission is the only route.
- Anyone who has held an Indian passport
- What applies
- Renouncing Indian citizenship requires a surrender certificate before a visa is issued. This catches out people of Indian origin every year and it cannot be fixed at the airport.
- Diplomatic and official passports
- What applies
- Not eligible for the e-Visa. A regular visa from an Indian mission.
How to actually get it
Apply on the government site, not a lookalike
indianvisaonline.gov.in is the only official portal. There is an entire industry of agency sites that charge three or four times the fee to fill in the same form, and they rank well in search. If a site is asking USD 120 for a 30-day tourist visa, you are on one of them.
The photograph is what fails
A plain white background, square crop, face filling most of the frame, no glasses. More e-Visa applications are rejected on the photograph than on anything else. Take it against a white wall on a phone rather than scanning a passport picture.
Print the approval
You receive an Electronic Travel Authorisation by email. Print it. Airlines at check-in ask for it on paper more often than they should, and the immigration counter at Delhi stamps against it.
Entry point matters
The e-Visa is valid at 36 airports, 38 seaports and 12 land crossings, and the land list includes the Nepal border posts at Raxaul and Sunauli. Arriving overland anywhere not on the list with an e-Visa means being turned back.
What catches people out
- The e-Visa is not extendable and not convertible once you are in the country.
- The 1-year and 5-year e-Tourist visas cap you at 180 days in any twelve-month period, not 180 consecutive days.
- Restricted and protected area permits still apply on top of a visa for parts of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh's border areas, Lakshadweep and the Andamans.
- A same-day connection through Delhi on separate tickets means clearing immigration with the visa you hold. There is no airside transit for most nationalities.
- Fees are nationality-specific and change without notice. The figures here were checked in February 2026 and are for common Western passports.
When to come
| When | What it is like | |
|---|---|---|
| October to March | Best | The season for the north: Delhi, Rajasthan, Agra and Varanasi are clear and cool. December and January are genuinely cold and foggy in the morning, which delays flights and trains. |
| March | Best | Holi, and the reason to build a trip around a single date. Warm rather than hot, and the last comfortable month in Rajasthan. |
| April to June | Hard | The plains reach 45°C. It is also when the 30-day e-Visa costs USD 10 and when the Himalayan north, Ladakh and Sikkim, is at its best. |
| July to September | Hard | Monsoon. Kerala and the Western Ghats are wonderful in it; the Golden Triangle is humid and the Himalaya is landsliding. |
- October to March
- What it is like
- The season for the north: Delhi, Rajasthan, Agra and Varanasi are clear and cool. December and January are genuinely cold and foggy in the morning, which delays flights and trains.
Best - March
- What it is like
- Holi, and the reason to build a trip around a single date. Warm rather than hot, and the last comfortable month in Rajasthan.
Best - April to June
- What it is like
- The plains reach 45°C. It is also when the 30-day e-Visa costs USD 10 and when the Himalayan north, Ladakh and Sikkim, is at its best.
Hard - July to September
- What it is like
- Monsoon. Kerala and the Western Ghats are wonderful in it; the Golden Triangle is humid and the Himalaya is landsliding.
Hard
Arriving
Delhi is the gateway for everything in this catalogue
Indira Gandhi International has the widest choice of long-haul routes in South Asia and it is ninety minutes from Kathmandu, four hours from the Taj Mahal and an easy connection to Varanasi. Every India and Nepal itinerary we run starts or ends there for those reasons and not for any other.
Flying between India and Nepal
Delhi to Kathmandu is one hour forty-five minutes on Nepal Airlines, IndiGo or Air India, several times a day. Varanasi to Kathmandu is a shorter hop and is the one that makes a Ganges-then-Himalaya itinerary work without doubling back. Kolkata to Kathmandu is the third option and the least frequent.
Crossing by land
Sunauli, near Bhairahawa, is the crossing for Varanasi and Lucknow. Raxaul, near Birgunj, is the one for Patna and Bodhgaya. Kakarbhitta in the east serves Darjeeling and Siliguri. All three are open daily, all three issue Nepali visas on arrival, and all three take considerably longer than the map suggests. Budget a full day and do not book anything for the evening.
Flying there
Non-stop routes only. Anything with a connection depends on the day and is better answered by a search than by a table.
| From | Airlines | In the air | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air India | 8h 30m | Non-stop to Delhi |
| New York | Air India, United | 14h 30m | Non-stop to Delhi |
| Frankfurt | Lufthansa, Air India | 7h 45m | - |
| Dubai | Emirates, IndiGo, Air India Express | 3h 30m | The densest short-haul link into India |
| Singapore | Singapore Airlines, IndiGo, Air India | 5h 30m | - |
| Kathmandu | Nepal Airlines, IndiGo, Air India | 1h 45m | To Delhi. Several a day |
| Paro | Drukair, Bhutan Airlines | 1h 45m | To Delhi, around five a week |
- London
- Airlines
- British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air India
- In the air
- 8h 30m
- Notes
- Non-stop to Delhi
- New York
- Airlines
- Air India, United
- In the air
- 14h 30m
- Notes
- Non-stop to Delhi
- Frankfurt
- Airlines
- Lufthansa, Air India
- In the air
- 7h 45m
- Notes
- -
- Dubai
- Airlines
- Emirates, IndiGo, Air India Express
- In the air
- 3h 30m
- Notes
- The densest short-haul link into India
- Singapore
- Airlines
- Singapore Airlines, IndiGo, Air India
- In the air
- 5h 30m
- Notes
- -
- Kathmandu
- Airlines
- Nepal Airlines, IndiGo, Air India
- In the air
- 1h 45m
- Notes
- To Delhi. Several a day
- Paro
- Airlines
- Drukair, Bhutan Airlines
- In the air
- 1h 45m
- Notes
- To Delhi, around five a week
| Getting around inside | Airlines | In the air | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi to Varanasi | IndiGo, Air India, Akasa | 1h 25m | The alternative to an overnight train |
| Delhi to Leh | IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet | 1h 20m | Morning only. Leh is at 3,500 m and needs two days of doing nothing |
| Delhi to Bagdogra | IndiGo, Air India | 2h | For Darjeeling, Sikkim and the land route into Bhutan |
| Delhi to Jaipur | IndiGo, Air India | 1h | Usually driven in five hours instead, because the road is the point |
- Delhi to Varanasi
- Airlines
- IndiGo, Air India, Akasa
- In the air
- 1h 25m
- Notes
- The alternative to an overnight train
- Delhi to Leh
- Airlines
- IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet
- In the air
- 1h 20m
- Notes
- Morning only. Leh is at 3,500 m and needs two days of doing nothing
- Delhi to Bagdogra
- Airlines
- IndiGo, Air India
- In the air
- 2h
- Notes
- For Darjeeling, Sikkim and the land route into Bhutan
- Delhi to Jaipur
- Airlines
- IndiGo, Air India
- In the air
- 1h
- Notes
- Usually driven in five hours instead, because the road is the point
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5.0(4 reviews)Money on the ground
- Cards
- Widely accepted in cities and at anything aimed at tourists. Cash for markets, autorickshaws and small towns.
- ATMs
- Everywhere. Withdrawal limits are low, often INR 10,000 a time, so expect several visits.
- UPI
- The country runs on it and it is now open to foreign visitors with an Indian SIM. Worth setting up if you are staying more than a fortnight.
- Currency export
- Taking Indian rupees out of the country is restricted, and INR 500 notes are not legal tender in Nepal. Spend down before you cross.
- Tipping
- Ten per cent in restaurants where service is not added. INR 500 to 1,000 a day for a driver on a private tour.
Joining it onto the country next door
Half the trips in this catalogue cross a border. These are the links they are built on, and the lead times they impose.
| On to | How | How long | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nepal | Fly Delhi, Varanasi or Kolkata to Kathmandu, or cross by land at Sunauli, Raxaul or Kakarbhitta | 1h 20m to 1h 45m flying, a full day by road | - |
| Bhutan | Fly Delhi, Kolkata or Bagdogra to Paro, or drive in at Phuentsholing | 1h to 1h 45m flying | Indian nationals need a permit rather than a visa, issued on arrival |
| Tibet | Not directly. Via Kathmandu, or via mainland China | Two flights | There is no tourist land crossing from India into Tibet |
- Nepal
- How
- Fly Delhi, Varanasi or Kolkata to Kathmandu, or cross by land at Sunauli, Raxaul or Kakarbhitta
- How long
- 1h 20m to 1h 45m flying, a full day by road
- Notes
- -
- Bhutan
- How
- Fly Delhi, Kolkata or Bagdogra to Paro, or drive in at Phuentsholing
- How long
- 1h to 1h 45m flying
- Notes
- Indian nationals need a permit rather than a visa, issued on arrival
- Tibet
- How
- Not directly. Via Kathmandu, or via mainland China
- How long
- Two flights
- Notes
- There is no tourist land crossing from India into Tibet
Health and safety
- No vaccination is required unless you are arriving from a yellow fever country, in which case the certificate is checked and enforced.
- Typhoid, hepatitis A and tetanus are the standard travel-clinic recommendations. Rabies is worth discussing if you are going rural.
- Drink sealed or filtered water and treat street food by how busy the stall is rather than how clean it looks. Somewhere with a queue turns its stock over.
- Delhi's air quality between late October and January is genuinely poor and is a real consideration for asthma and other respiratory conditions. An FFP2 mask is not paranoid there.
- Private hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are excellent and are where insurance will send you. Keep the policy number somewhere that is not only on your phone.
